Multi-stack cup magazine



Jan. 5, 1960 R. F. ANDERSON MULTI-STACK CUP MAGAZINE Filed June 20, 1956 JnveW/w W Mm) ilk :3.

Jan, 5, 1960 R. F. ANDERSON fi fi MULTI-STACK CUP MAGAZINE Filed June 20, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u, M O

90 3, y m C) United States Patent MULTI-STACK CUP MAGAZINE Ralph F. Anderson, Rockford, 1]].

Application June 20, 1956, Serial No. 592,683

6 Claims. (Cl. 221-11) This invention relates to an article dispensing apparatus and more particularly to an improved multi-stack cup magazine.

An important object of this invention is to provide a multi-stack cup magazine having an improved means for intermittently rotating the magazine to index the latter and successively position the stacks of cups carried thereby at a dispensing station.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multistack cup magazine in which the mechanism for indexing the magazine is arranged to rapidly move the magazine from one position to the next succeeding position and which, in the absence of a stack of cups at the next succeeding position, will continue indexing between several successive positions without interruption until a stack of cups is moved into position at the dispensing station.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multistack cup magazine which is simple and compact in construction and in which the mechanism for intermittently rotating the magazine is disposed within the magazine and substantially enclosed thereby.

A further object of this invention is to provide a multi-stack cup magazine having improved means for guiding the stacks of cups in the magazine, which guide means is so arranged as to facilitate refilling of the magazine with stacks of cups.

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the .same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed descrtpion when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the cup magazine shown applied to a dispensing mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the cup magazine illustrating the position of the cup detecting finger when the stack of cups at the dispensing station is depleted;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the cup magazine;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the cup magazine, with parts broken away and shown in section to illustrate details of construction;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through the drive mechanism for the multi-stack cup magazine, taken on the plane 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through the magazine indexing clutch; and

Fig. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical control circuit for the magazine.

The multi-stack cup magazine, designated generally by the numeral 10 is arranged to successively advance the stacks of cups 11 carried thereby to a dispensing mechanism designated generally by the numeral 12 when the stack of cups at the dispensing mechanism is depleted, to thereby maintain a supply of cups thereat.

The dispensing mechanism may be of any conventional construction and suitable to remove and dispense the lowermost cup from the stack fed thereto. The particu- Patented Jan. 5, 1960 lar cup dispensing mechanism herein illustrated is of the ciprocation relative thereto and has a cup retaining or supporting means 17 thereon arranged to support the stack of cups and to dispense the lowermost cup in the stack in response to reciprocation of the frame 15 relative to the frame 13. A vertical lift rod 18 is attached to the frame 15 for reciprocating the latter to dispense a cup from the lower end of the stack. In the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the rod is operated by an elevating table 19 associated with a conveyer 21. The elevating table is arranged to be periodically elevated and lowered and engages the rod 18 to thereby operate the dispensing mechanism to dispense the lowermost cup from the stack. As the specific dispensing mechanism forms no part of the present invention, further detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

The cup magazine may be supported in any desired manner adjacent the dispensing mechanism 12 and is herein shown mounted on an arm 22 which is supported for horizontal swinging movement on a bracket 23 which may conveniently be affixed to a cup filling machine (not shown). A post 24 is non-rotatably alfixed to the arm 22 and is preferably mounted for limited vertical adjustment relative thereto. A collar 25 is providedon the post 24 and arranged to be detachably locked there on to engage the arm 22 and prevent downward sliding movement of the post. A reduced diameter extension 26 (Fig. 4) is secured to the upper end of the post 24 and extends upwardly therefrom. A sleeve 27 is rotatably mounted on the extension 26, as by bearings 28 and 29.

The magazine 10 is affixed to the sleeve 27 for rotation therewith and includes a substantially cylindrical drum 31 formed of sheet metal or the like. Upper and lower sets of radially extending arms 32 and 33 are secured to the sleeve 27 and bands 34 and 35 are aflixed, as by suitable fasteners 36 to the outer ends of the upper and lower sets of arms respectively. The cylindrical drum 31 is attached, in any suitable manner, to the bands 34 and 35 and extends upwardly therefrom as is best shown in Fig. 4.

A plurality of partitions 38 are secured, as by welding, to the outer surface of the drum 31 and extend longitudinally thereof. As best shown in Fig. 3, the partitions 38 each project outwardly from the drum 31 and are preferably formed with a V-shaped cross-section, the apex of which is located approximately midway between the radially inner ancl outer sides of the partitions. Upper and lower bands 41 and 42 are secured to the outer edges of the partitions, adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof, which bands are each formed with a plurality of annularly spaced slots 43 which extend circumferentially of the bands between the adjacent partitions 38. A guide bar 44 is disposed in each of the pockets formed between adjacent partitions and each guide bar is attached to the upper and lower bands 41 and 42 for adjustment circumferentially thereof. The guide bars are provided for guiding the stack of cups along the adjacent partition and, in accordance with the present invention, are arranged to facilitate insertion of a stack of cups into the open upper ends of the pockets.

,ed lateral projection 47a is provided at the upper end 0f each of the guide bars 44 and arranged to extend 'a driven shaft 68 which projects through the plate.

through one of the slots 43 in the upper band. A wing nut 47b is threaded on the projection 47a to secure the upper end of the guide bar to the upper band in a preselected adjusted position. A lateral extension 48 (Fig. 3) is provided at the lower end of each of the guide bars, which extension has a threaded end thereon adapted to extend through the slots 43 in the lower band 42. A wing nut 49 is threaded onto the extension 48 to lock the lower end of the guide bar in any preselected circumferentially adjusted position relative to the lower band 42. The lower portion 46 of each of the guide bars is spaced inwardly from the bands 41 and 42 a distance approximately equal to the radial spacing of the apex of the partitions 38 from the bands, to engage the stack of cups 11 at the side thereof opposite the side which engages the partition and guides the stack therealong. The upper portion of the guide bars, however, are spaced from the stack of cups, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 3, to provide appreciable clearance therebetween. the stack of cups into the pockets through the open upper end of the magazine when the overhead clearance is low. The cups, when stacked, may be arched through the length thereof without disengaging the adjacent cups from each other. of the guide bar and the adjacent partition is arranged to enable insertion of the arched stack of cups into the open top of the magazine, thereby permitting a tall stack of cups to be inserted into the open top of the magazine pockets when the overhead clearance above the magazine is small.

The magazine 10 is also open at the lower end thereof and a supporting platform 51 is provided for supporting the lower ends of the stacks 11 as the magazine is intermittently rotated. The platform is supported on a hub 52 which is non-rotatably secured to the post 24 and includes a plurality of outwardly extending arms 55. In order to reduce the frictional resistance between the cup stacks and the platform, the supporting platform is formed with a plurality of annular rails 57 which are affixed to the upper faces of the arms 55 and underlie the lower ends of the cup receiving pockets in the magazine. The ends of the rail 57 terminate in spaced relation to each other, as best shown in Fig. 3, to define a dispensing opening therebetween through which the stacks of cups are discharged into the dispensing mecha nism 12. As is apparent, this dispensing opening may be moved into and out of alignment with the dispensing mechanism, by swinging the magazine on the arm 22.

In accordance with the present invention, the mechanism for intermittently rotating the magazine, to sequentially position the stacks of cups at the dispensing opening, is mounted within the drum 31 to provide a more compact arrangement and also to partially enclose the drive mechanism so as to avoid contamination of the cups carried thereby and also prevent damage to the magazine rotating mechanism during cleaning of the magazine. The magazine rotating mechanism, as best shown in Fig. 4, is mounted on a bracket carried by the upper end of the post extension 26. This bracket includes a horizontally disposed plate 61 which is nonrotatably secured, as by a set screw 62, to the extension 26 and a vertically extending plate 64 attached to one edge of the plate 61. A motor 63 is secured to the vertically disposed plate 64 and a manually operable switch is mounted on the post 24 and electrically connected in series with the motor by conductors a and 70b (see Fig. 7) to control energization of the latter. The motor is connected through a speed reducer 65 to a vertically disposed drive shaft 66 and the drive shaft is operatively connected to the magazine to intermittently rotate the same by means of an automatic releasing clutch 67 which is rotatably mounted on the plate 61. The clutch is connected to the drive shaft 66 and has A This arrangement facilitates the insertion of i The spacing between the upper portion 45 gear 69 is attached to the driven shaft 68 below the plate and meshes with a gear 71 non-rotatably affixed to the sleeve 27, to thereby rotate the magazine in response to rotation of the driven shaft 68.

The clutch 67 may be of any suitable type which is adapted, when tripped, to establish a driving connection between the drive shaft 66 and the driven shaft 68 to rotate the latter through a preselected angle and then automatically disconnect the driving connection between the drive and driven shafts to stop rotation of the latter. The specific clutch illustrated in the drawings is of the type disclosed in the copending application of Swan F. Anderson, Serial No. 586,983, filed May 24, 1956, for Mechanical Clutch, now Patent No. 2,825,435. Briefly, the clutch mechanism disclosed in that application includes a pair of operating fingers 73a and 731; which are mounted for rotation with the driven shaft and arranged to be shifted longitudinally of the clutch to engage and disengage the driving connection between the drive and driven shafts. As best shown in Fig. 6, the fingers 73a and 73b are formed on opposite ends of a drive arm 95, which drive arm is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends by pin 96 on the driven shaft 68 for movement about an axis perpendicular to the driven shaft. Drive pins 97a and 97b are mounted at diametrically opposed points on a drive member 99 carried by the drive shaft and extend downwardly therefrom. In the neutral position, the fingers are disposed approximately midway between the ends of the longitudinal slot 74 in the clutch housing (see Figs. 4 and 6) and are out of engagement with the drive pins 97a and 97b. When the fingers are moved in either direction from their neutral position to an engaged position shown in phantom in Fig. 6, a driving connection is established between the drive arm and one or the other of the pins 97a and 97b to establish a driving connection between the drive and driven shafts which driving connection continues until the fingers are returned to their neutral position. Since a pair of diametrically opposed fingers 73a and 7312 are provided, it is apparent that this specific clutch is arranged to rotate the driven shaft through one-half revolution when the clutch is tripped. The gears 69 and 71 are, therefore, arranged to turn the magazine through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between adjacent pockets in response to rotation of the driven shaft through one-half revolution, it being understood that the gear ratio would be changed accordingly if a different clutch, such as a one-revolution clutch, were used. A spring 98 within the clutch is provided to normally urge the fingers into their engaged position and a control arm 75 is provided to engage one or the other of the fingers 73a or 731) and return the latter to their neutral position to disengage the clutch.

The control arm, as best shown in Fig. 5, is mounted for horizontal swinging movement on a block 76 carried by the plate 61. A spring 77 is attached to the control arm 75 and to the upwardly extending plate 64 to yieldably urge the control arm into engagement with the clutch 67. An adjustable stop 78 is mounted on a block 7, also carried by the plates 61, which stop is arranged to limit movement of the control arm to prevent rubbing of the control arm against the outer face of the clutch, as the latter rotates. The control arm is provided with a V-shaped end 81 adapted to engage one or the other of the fingers 73a or 73b as the latter rotates to thereby return the fingers to their neutral position and disengage the drive shaft from the driven shaft. The control arm 75 may conveniently be operated by a solenoid 82 mounted on the blocks 76 and 79. The solenoid, as best shown in Fig. 5, has a movable armature 83 connected by a link 84 to the control arm 75 to move the latter from the solid line position to the dotted line position when the solenoid is energized. When the control arm is moved to its dotted line position, the fingers 73a and 7312 move out of their neutral position and thus estab lish a driving connection between the drive and driven shafts. When the solenoid is thereafter de-energized, the control arm is urged by the spring 77 into the path of movement of the fingers 73a and 73b to engage one of the fingers and move the fingers to their neutral or release positions and thereby disengage the driving connection between the drive and driven shafts. As previously described, the gears 69 and 71 which connect the drive shaft to the drum 31 are arranged to effect rotation of the drum, in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing'between the adjacent cup receiving pockets thereon in response to rotation of the driven shaft 68 through one-half revolution. In the embodiment illustrated, there are 12 cup receiving pockets and the gear ratio between the gears 69 and the gears 71 is'accordingly 1 to 6.

Energization of the solenoid 82 is controlled by a switch 86. The switch 86 may conveniently be of the mercury type and connected in series with the solenoid by a circuit including conductors 90, 91 and 92 to energize the latter when the switch is closed and to de-energize the solenoid when the switch is opened. As shown in Fig. 7, power is conveniently supplied to the solenoid circuit from the same supply source used for the motor by connecting conductors 90 and 92 of the solenoid circuit to the conductors 70a and 70b of the motor circuit. The switch is attached to one end of a rod 87 which is journaled on a bracket 88 carried by the cup supporting platform 51. A finger 89 is attached to the other end of the rod for movement about the axis thereof into engagement with the stack of cups 11 located adjacent the dispensing opening in the cup supporting platform. The finger is yieldably urged, as by gravity, into engagement with the stack of cups and, when the stack of cups at the dispensing station extends above the level of the platform 51, the finger maintains the switch 86 in a position such as to open the latter. Asthe stack of cups becomes depleted to a level below the platform 51, the finger 89 moves in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2 and 4 to thereby move the switch 86 to a position closing the latter and energizing the solenoid 82. Conveniently, the bracket 88 for supporting the rod 87 may be mounted on an arm 90 for adjustment toward and away from the stack of cups at the dispensing station and, as illustrated herein, is arranged to be locked in its adjusted position by means of a thumb screw 91.

From the foregoing it is thought that the operation of the device will be readily understood. The motor 63 is energized by closing the manual switch 60 and is operative to continuously rotate the drive shaft 66 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 3, while the manual switch is closed. As the stack of cups at the dispensing station falls to a level below the platform 51, as shown in Fig. 2, the finger 89 moves, in a direction opposite the direction of movement of the cups along the platform, to a position closing the switch 86. This effects energization of the solenoid 82 and moves the control arm 75 to its dotted line position shown in Fig. 5 to trip the clutch 67. As previously described, movement of the control arm out of engagement with the fingers 73a or 73b permits the latter to move out of their neutral position to effect a driving connection between the drive shaft 66 and the driven shaft 68. The driven shaft and the fingers 73a and 73b will then begin to rotate and move the cup magazine in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3. If a stack of cups is present in the next succeeding pocket on the magazine, the stack will engage the finger 89 as it is moved toward the dispensing opening in the platform 51. This moves the finger 89 to a position to open the switch 86 before the next succeeding pocket on the cup magazine is moved into registry with the dispensing opening. The solenoid 82 is then de-energized and control arm 75 moves under the bias of spring 77 into the path of movement of one of the fingers 73a or 73b. As the driven shaft 68 continues to rotate, one of the fingers engages the V- shaped end of the control arm 75 and is moved thereby to its neutral or release position and disengages the driving connection. Disengagement of the driving connection occurs when the driven shaft has rotated through an angle of exactly from its previous position so that the clutch magazine will have been rotated through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between the adjacent cups thereon. The next succeeding cup pocket will therefore be in proper registry with the dispensing opening.

If the next succeeding pocket on the clutch magazine does not contain a stack of cups, the finger 89 will remain in a position closing the switch 86 so that the clutch will remain tripped and the motor will continue to drive the magazine until a pocket containing a stack of cups advances to a position adjacent the dispensing opening. The stack of cups will then engage the finger as hereinbefore described, to release the control arm before the next succeeding stack of cups moves into registry with the dispensing mechanism. The clutch will thereafter be automatically disengaged when the magazine rotates to a position in which the stack of cups registers with the dispensing opening in the platform 51.

I claim:

l. A turret type cup dispensing mechanism comprising a cylindrical drum, means mounting said drum for rotation about the axis thereof, a plurality of partitions attached to the periphery'of said drum to extend longitudinally thereof and project outwardly therefrom to define a plurality of annularly spaced cup receiving pockets therebetween, said pockets being open at the top and at the bottom thereof, a cup supporting platform underlying said drum to support the stacks of cups thereon as the drum is rotated, upper and lower bands attached to the radially outer edges of said partitions adjacent the upper and lower ends, respectively, a cup guide bar disposed in each of said pockets for guiding the stack of cups therein along I one of said partitions, means attaching the upper and lower ends of said bars to said upper and lower bands for limited adjustment circumferentially of the bands, said bars each including a downwardly extending upper portion disposed closely adjacent said upper band and an offset lower portion extending downwardly from the upper portion and disposed radially inwardly thereof to engage the stack of cups and guide the latter along an adjacent partition, and means disposed within said drum for intermittently rotating said drum to successively position the stacks of cups carried thereby at a dispensing station.

2. A turret type cup dispensing mechanism comprising a cylindrical drum, means mounting said drum for rotation about the axis thereof, a plurality of partitions attached to the periphery of said drum to extend longitudinally thereof and project outwardly therefrom to define a plurality of annularly spaced cup receiving pockets therebetween, said partitions having a V-shaped cross section with the apex thereof located substantially midway between the radially inner and outer edges thereof, said pockets being open at the top and at the bottom thereof, a cup supporting platform underlying said drum and having a dispensing opening therein, upper and lower bands attached to the radially outer edges of said partitions adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof, respectively, a cup guide bar disposed in each of said pockets for guiding the stack of cups therein along one of said partitions, means attaching the upper and lower ends of each bar to said upper and lower bands for limited adjustment circumferentially of the bands, said bars each including an upper portion disposed closely adjacent said upper band and extending downwardly therefrom, said bars including an offset lower portion extending downwardly from adjacent the lower end of the upper portion and spaced radially inwardly from said bands a distance approximating the spacing of the apex of the partitions from the bands to guide the stack of-cups along the concave side of an adjacent partition, and means disposed within said drum for intermittently rotating said drum to suc- 7 cessively position the stacks of cups carried thereby at said dispensing opening.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said drum rotating means includes a motor disposed within said drurn, a driven shaft within said drum and operatively connected thereto to rotate the drum, an automatic clutch within the drum operative when tripped to drivingly connect the motor to the driven shaft to rotate the drum and move the next succeeding pocket into registry with said dispensing opening, and means responsive to depletion of a stack of cups at the dispensing opening to a level below said platform for tripping the clutch.

4. In an article dispensing mechanism, a platform hav ing a dispensing station at one side thereof, a rotary turret for advancing a plurality of individual stacks of articles along the platform to the dispensing station, means for intermittently rotating said turret to successively position the stacks of articles carried by the turret at the dispensing station, said last mentioned means including a motor having a drive shaft, a driven shaft, automatic tripping clutch means connected to the drive and driven shafts operative when tripped to establish a driving connection from the drive shaft to the driven shaft to rotate the latter with the drive shaft until the driven shaft has been turned through a preselected angle, means opera tively connecting the drive shaft to the turret to rotate the latter through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between adjacent stacks on the turret in response to rotation of the driven shaft through said preselected angle, means including a solenoid for tripping said clutch means, switch means adapted when closed to energize said solenoid and trip said clutch means and when open to de-energize the solenoid, an article engaging finger operatively connected to said switch means and mounted at the dispensing station for vertical pivotal movement, said finger swinging downwardly as the stack of cups at the dispensing station is depleted to close the switch when the top of the stack is below said platform, said finger ex tending above said platform to engage a stack of articles thereon before the stack reaches the dispensing station and be raised thereby to its switch opening position, said clutch means maintaining a driving connection to said driven shaft after said switch is opened and until said driven shaft is turned through said preselected angle to thereby accurately position the next stack of articles at the dispensing station.

5. In an article dispensing mechanism, a rotary turret for supporting a plurality of individual stacks of articles,

means for rotating said turret to successively position the stacks of articles carried thereby at a dispensing station, said means comprising a drive shaft, means for rotating said drive shaft, a driven shaft, means drivingly connecting said driven shaft to said turret to rotate the latter through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between successive stacks on the turret in response to rota- 2 tion of said driven shaft through a preselected angle,

automatic clutch means connected to said drive and driven shafts operative when tripped to drivingly connect said drive and driven shafts and when released to maintain Jae driving connection therebetween until the driven shaft completes rotation through said preselected angle or the next succeeding multiple thereof, and clutch operating means engageable with the stack of articles at the dispensing station for tripping said clutch means when the stack of articl s at the dispensing station is depleted, said operating 1r is including means operative when the stack of articles at the dispensing station is depleted for detecting the presence of a stack of articles in the turret before that stack reaches the dispensing station and for releasing said clutch means when a stack of articles is ad vanced to said detecting means.

6. In an article dispensing mechanism, a rotary turret for supporting a plurality of individual stacks of articles, means for rotating said turret to successively position the stacks of articles carried thereby at a dispensing station, said means comprising a drive shaft, means for rotating said drive shaft, a driven shaft, means drivingly connecting said driven shaft to said turret to rotate the latter through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between successive stacks on the turret in response to rotation of said driven shaft through a preselected angle, automatic clutch means connected to said drive and driven shafts operative when tripped to drivingly connect said drive and driven shafts and when released to maintain the driving connection therebetween until the driven shaft completes rotation through said preselected angle or the next succeeding multiple thereof, and a cup detecting finger mounted at the dispensing station to engage the stack of articles thereat and movable to a preselected position when the stack at the dispensing station is depieted, and means responsive to movement of said finger to said preselected position for tripping said clutch means, said finger, when in said preselected position, extending into the path of movement of the stacks of articles on the turret to be engaged by a succeeding stack before that stack reaches the dispensing station and to be moved thereby out of said preselected position to thereby release said clutch means.

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